The only way Georgia coach Mark Fox could even slow No. 12 Xavier's balanced offense was to keep calling timeouts, giving his cold-shooting team a chance to collect itself.
Even that backfired eventually.
Point guard Tu Holloway scored 12 points despite a sore finger on his right hand Friday night, and the Musketeers turned to their balance and their youngsters for a 70-56 victory over poor-shooting Georgia.
Xavier (4-0) extended its success against the Southeastern Conference by making full use of its roster for the first time this season. Only one player was on the floor for more than 26 minutes - center Kenny Frease, who had 12 points in 30 minutes.
Georgia (3-2) missed its first 11 shots, fell behind 10-0 and never recovered, trailing by 36 points midway through the second half. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 14 for the Bulldogs, who shot 32 percent from the field.
''We got off to a very slow start,'' Fox said.
Fox used all but one of his timeouts in the first half, repeatedly huddling his team to try to change the momentum. He used the last timeout with 17:48 to go in the game, while Xavier was in the midst of a 12-0 run that blew it open. That came back to hurt the Bulldogs when Caldwell-Pope got a loose ball on the floor and tried to call timeout rather than get tied up with 12:09 left.
Technical foul.
''I had to use a lot of timeouts early,'' Fox said. ''We were trying to hold on until halftime. We couldn't quite do it.''
The Musketeers pulled away even though Holloway couldn't take any long shots because of the sore shooting hand, which was wrapped in ice after the game. He bent a finger while going for a loose ball in practice during the week.
''He's such a tough kid. He just seems to get beat up little bit,'' coach Chris Mack said. ''He let the game come to him. He was in attack mode and played hard defensively and didn't let that stop him from being the leader he is.''
Xavier has won eight of its last nine games against SEC teams since 2008, beating Georgia three times during that span. The Musketeers also have wins over Florida, Auburn and Louisiana State.
Their only SEC defeat was at home to Florida last season, the Musketeers' only loss in their last 43 games at the Cintas Center.
Xavier won in Athens 65-57 last season, when Holloway failed to score in the first half, then had 18 to help the Musketeers pull away.
Holloway is trying to get into a rhythm after a tough opening stretch. He had to sit out the opener against Morgan State because he played too many summer games, a violation of NCAA rules. He returned and had 24 points against IPFW, but was physically subpar in a 66-60 win over Miami of Ohio a week ago.
Holloway was light-headed in the days leading up to the Miami game, in which he scored only nine points on 3-of-12 shooting. Now, he's also contending with the sore hand.
The Bulldogs were coming off 61-57 win over Notre Dame on Tuesday in the CBE Classic consolation game. They lost to No. 20 California a day earlier.
The Musketeers showed off their newcomers while taking control. At one juncture during the 10-0 opening run, Mack had freshman point guard Dee Davis, freshman forward Dez Wells, freshman forward Justin Martin, junior Travis Taylor and junior guard Mark Lyons on the floor. Taylor finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Mack wanted to get his newcomers into the game early and let them play significant roles.
''I love our freshmen,'' Mack said. ''I've never coached where I felt I have as many players that are talented enough and working hard enough to get into the game. I've never had that as a coach.''
Xavier pushed the lead to 14-3 with Georgia going 1 of 16 from the field with six turnovers in the first 10 minutes. Wells had the most crowd-pleasing play during the run, taking the ball around his back to avoid a steal while driving for a layup.
It was 28-19 at the half, with seven Xavier players scoring, none more than six points. The Bulldogs were 6 of 28 from the field with 11 turnovers.
Holloway got involved during a 12-point run that opened the second half and pushed the lead to 40-19. He hit a pair of free throws, a layup and a fadeaway jumper. Georgia missed five shots and had two turnovers during the decisive spurt.
